Flash Gordon (1979 cartoon)
Flash Gordon was an animated series produced from 1979 to 1980. 24 half-hour episodes were produced in two seasons. Flash Gordon is the title seen on screen, although the series is now known by a variety of names, including The Adventures of Flash Gordon and The New Adventures of Flash Gordon. In fact, each source seems to have a different variation on the name. The 2006 DVD box set calls the show Flash Gordon, which is the title given on screen. The official Hearst Entertainment site calls the show The Adventures of Flash Gordon. Wikipedia favors The New Adventures of Flash Gordon. TV.com calls it ''The Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon, and IMDB.com combines all the titles and calls it The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon. Filmation produced the series in 1979, partly as a reaction to the mammoth success of Star Wars in 1977. The series was an homage to the original Flash Gordon comic strip and featured most of the original characters, including Flash's girlfriend Dale Arden, and the scientist Hans Zarkov. In the series, Flash and company travel to Mongo, where they're forced into battle by its ruler, Ming the Merciless, his daughter Princess Aura, and his army of Metal Men. To help their cause, the heroes lead the formation of an alliance beginning with Prince Thun, leader of the Lion Men; Prince Barin, leader of Arboria; and King Vultan, ruler of the Hawkmen. The original project was produced as a made-for-television feature film. When NBC saw the finished work, it was decided to turn the work into an animated TV series. When a second season of episodes was ordered, NBC insisted that the episodic format be dropped and that the stories be written for a more juvenile level. This resulted in the addition of the pet dragon Gremlin, an artist in nose-blown smoke. This second season of episodes was not well received and the program was canceled after completion of the second season run. The entire series has recently been released on DVD. Episodes Season One # A Planet in Peril (Sept 22, 1979) # The Monsters of Mongo (Sept 29, 1979) # Vultan, King of the Hawkmen (Oct 6, 1979) # To Save Earth (Oct 13, 1979) # The Beast Men's Prey (Oct 20, 1979) # Into the Water World (Oct 27, 1979) # Adventure in Arboria (Nov 3, 1979) # The Frozen World (Nov 10, 1979) # Monster of the Glacier (Nov 17, 1979) # Blue Magic (Nov 24, 1979) # King Flash (Dec 1, 1979) # Tournament of Death (Dec 8, 1979) # Castaways in Tropica (Dec 15, 1979) # The Desert Hawk (Dec 22, 1979) # Revolt of the Power Men (Dec 29, 1979) # Ming's Last Battle (Jan 5, 1980) Season Two Episodes in the second season included two stories. # Gremlin the Dragon / Royal Wedding (Sept 13, 1980) # Sir Gremlin / Deadly Double # The Game / The Seed # Witch Woman / Micro Menace # Flash Back / The Warrior # The Freedom Balloon / Sacrifice of the Volcano Men # Beware of Gifts / The Memory Bank of Ming # Survival Game / Gremlin's Finest Hour Cast *Flash Gordon: Robert Ridgely *Dale Arden: Diane Pershing *Dr. Hans Zarkov: Alan Oppenheimer *Princess Aura: Melendy Britt *King Vultan: Allan Melvin *Others: Bob Holt Credits *Produced by Don Christensen *Animation Director: Gwen Wetzler *Story Editor: Ted Pedersen *Art Director: Herb Hazelton References External links *Hearst Entertainment official site Category:Animated Series